It’s 11:30 p.m. on November 13, and if you know where to look, the excitement is palpable.
Across curated corners of the internet, fans are eagerly awaiting the release of the new
poptropicaslutz! single, set to drop at midnight. Yes, you read that right: “poptropicaslutz!” — all
lowercase, complete with an exclamation point at the end.
The duo, made up of Christian Cicilia and Nicholas Crawford, has amassed a devoted fanbase
drawn to their witty lyricism — yet, something feels different this time. “MDMA Keeps the Doctor
Away” reads the song title, as if it came from the back of an old Fall Out Boy CD. But don’t let
that association fool you: poptropicaslutz! is anything but predictable.
In “MDMA”, vocal melodies soar and snap in all the right places, while pitched up lyrics shift
effortlessly between rap-infused verses and sing-song deliveries. The sleek production, crafted
by collaborators Joey “Kodeblooded” Khodanian and Sam “Aldrch” Richman, forms the punchy
foundation beneath.
“Our new album, and this song specifically, is about an escort named Alice and her former
employer’s unrequited longing for her. It’s loosely a concept album in that way,” the band
explains, hinting at the start of their next era. Some fans-turned-detectives may have pieced
together this narrative from hints dropped on Instagram and TikTok.
The accompanying music video opens ominously in a wash of black and purple, using frames of text to introduce the main character, Alice, while revealing the band through a haze of smoke and mirrors. Despite being performance based, the visual is just as exciting as the record.
This is what the future of pop music looks like, it seems: a landscape of fan-driven communities, thriving quietly until they’re ready to erupt into the mainstream. And with “MDMA Keeps the Doctor Away”, Cicilia and Crawford have positioned themselves comfortably ahead of the hyperpop-has-beens.
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